diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/base_matcher.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/base_matcher.rb
index d0b0ffc44..4572f1b3b 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/base_matcher.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/base_matcher.rb
@@ -16,6 +16,15 @@ module BaseMatcher
 
         attr_reader :actual, :expected, :rescued_exception
 
+        def initialize(expected = nil)
+          @expected = expected
+        end
+
+        def matches?(actual)
+          @actual = actual
+          match(expected, actual)
+        end
+
         def match_unless_raises(*exceptions)
           exceptions.unshift Exception if exceptions.empty?
           begin
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be.rb
index 8476e9dc7..514032104 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be.rb
@@ -6,44 +6,44 @@ module BuiltIn
       class BeTrue
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def matches?(actual)
-          @actual = actual
+        def match(_, actual)
+          !!actual
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
-          "expected: true value\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}"
+          "expected: true value\n     got: #{actual.inspect}"
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should_not
-          "expected: non-true value\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}"
+          "expected: non-true value\n     got: #{actual.inspect}"
         end
       end
 
       class BeFalse
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def matches?(actual)
-          !(@actual = actual)
+        def match(_, actual)
+          !actual
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
-          "expected: false value\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}"
+          "expected: false value\n     got: #{actual.inspect}"
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should_not
-          "expected: non-false value\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}"
+          "expected: non-false value\n     got: #{actual.inspect}"
         end
       end
 
       class BeNil
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def matches?(actual)
-          (@actual = actual).nil?
+        def match(_, actual)
+          actual.nil?
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
-          "expected: nil\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}"
+          "expected: nil\n     got: #{actual.inspect}"
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should_not
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@ def failure_message_for_should_not
       end
 
       class Be
-        include RSpec::Matchers::Pretty
+        include BaseMatcher
 
         def initialize(*args, &block)
           @args = args
         end
 
-        def matches?(actual)
-          !!(@actual = actual)
+        def match(_, actual)
+          !!actual
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
@@ -70,10 +70,6 @@ def failure_message_for_should_not
           "expected #{@actual.inspect} to evaluate to false"
         end
 
-        def description
-          "be"
-        end
-
         [:==, :<, :<=, :>=, :>, :===].each do |operator|
           define_method operator do |operand|
             BeComparedTo.new(operand, operator)
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_instance_of.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_instance_of.rb
index 4aa1fb57e..17ba4937b 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_instance_of.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_instance_of.rb
@@ -4,13 +4,8 @@ module BuiltIn
       class BeAnInstanceOf
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          @actual = actual
-          @actual.instance_of? @expected
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          actual.instance_of? expected
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_kind_of.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_kind_of.rb
index 1e9969780..e47fc1d5c 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_kind_of.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_kind_of.rb
@@ -4,12 +4,8 @@ module BuiltIn
       class BeAKindOf
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          (@actual = actual).kind_of?(@expected)
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          actual.kind_of? expected
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_within.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_within.rb
index 6bebb23f6..a9617d86c 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_within.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/be_within.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ module RSpec
   module Matchers
     module BuiltIn
       class BeWithin
-        include BaseMatcher
-
         def initialize(delta)
           @delta = delta
         end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/cover.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/cover.rb
index ea5711ea4..4b6be8017 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/cover.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/cover.rb
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@ def initialize(*expected)
 
         def matches?(range)
           @actual = range
-          @expected.all? {|e| range.cover?(e)}
+          @expected.all? { |e| range.cover?(e) }
         end
 
         def does_not_match?(range)
           @actual = range
-          expected.none? {|e| range.cover?(e)}
+          expected.none? { |e| range.cover?(e) }
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eq.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eq.rb
index f4f1d34c7..62b9e2786 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eq.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eq.rb
@@ -4,20 +4,16 @@ module BuiltIn
       class Eq
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          (@actual = actual) == @expected
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          expected == actual
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
-          "\nexpected: #{@expected.inspect}\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using ==)\n"
+          "\nexpected: #{expected.inspect}\n     got: #{actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using ==)\n"
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should_not
-          "\nexpected: value != #{@expected.inspect}\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using ==)\n"
+          "\nexpected: value != #{expected.inspect}\n     got: #{actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using ==)\n"
         end
 
         def diffable?; true; end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eql.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eql.rb
index 436ac79ab..cd08aaf29 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eql.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/eql.rb
@@ -4,20 +4,16 @@ module BuiltIn
       class Eql
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          (@actual = actual).eql?(@expected)
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          actual.eql? expected
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
-          "\nexpected: #{@expected.inspect}\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using eql?)\n"
+          "\nexpected: #{expected.inspect}\n     got: #{actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using eql?)\n"
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should_not
-          "\nexpected: value != #{@expected.inspect}\n     got: #{@actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using eql?)\n"
+          "\nexpected: value != #{expected.inspect}\n     got: #{actual.inspect}\n\n(compared using eql?)\n"
         end
 
         def diffable?
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/equal.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/equal.rb
index d88ca5744..c2d403e39 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/equal.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/equal.rb
@@ -4,20 +4,15 @@ module BuiltIn
       class Equal
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          @actual = actual
-          @actual.equal? @expected
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          actual.equal? expected
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
           return <<-MESSAGE
 
-expected #{inspect_object(@expected)}
-     got #{inspect_object(@actual)}
+expected #{inspect_object(expected)}
+     got #{inspect_object(actual)}
 
 Compared using equal?, which compares object identity,
 but expected and actual are not the same object. Use
@@ -30,8 +25,8 @@ def failure_message_for_should
         def failure_message_for_should_not
           return <<-MESSAGE
 
-expected not #{inspect_object(@actual)}
-         got #{inspect_object(@expected)}
+expected not #{inspect_object(actual)}
+         got #{inspect_object(expected)}
 
 Compared using equal?, which compares object identity.
 
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match.rb
index bd189b803..f870f5db3 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match.rb
@@ -4,13 +4,8 @@ module BuiltIn
       class Match
         include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          @actual = actual
-          @actual.match @expected
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          actual.match expected
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match_array.rb b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match_array.rb
index bb1c4849f..319ca4a1c 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match_array.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/match_array.rb
@@ -2,22 +2,17 @@ module RSpec
   module Matchers
     module BuiltIn
       class MatchArray
-        include RSpec::Matchers::Pretty
+        include BaseMatcher
 
-        def initialize(expected)
-          @expected = expected
-        end
-
-        def matches?(actual)
-          @actual = actual        
-          @extra_items = difference_between_arrays(@actual, @expected)
-          @missing_items = difference_between_arrays(@expected, @actual)
+        def match(expected, actual)
+          @extra_items = difference_between_arrays(actual, expected)
+          @missing_items = difference_between_arrays(expected, actual)
           @extra_items.empty? & @missing_items.empty?
         end
 
         def failure_message_for_should
-          message =  "expected collection contained:  #{safe_sort(@expected).inspect}\n"
-          message += "actual collection contained:    #{safe_sort(@actual).inspect}\n"
+          message =  "expected collection contained:  #{safe_sort(expected).inspect}\n"
+          message += "actual collection contained:    #{safe_sort(actual).inspect}\n"
           message += "the missing elements were:      #{safe_sort(@missing_items).inspect}\n" unless @missing_items.empty?
           message += "the extra elements were:        #{safe_sort(@extra_items).inspect}\n"   unless @extra_items.empty?
           message
@@ -28,7 +23,7 @@ def failure_message_for_should_not
         end
 
         def description
-          "contain exactly #{_pretty_print(@expected)}"
+          "contain exactly #{_pretty_print(expected)}"
         end
 
         private